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Abbott, Davis Spar Over Public School Support

by Jim Forsyth

Education is the current battleground between the candidates for governor, as Republican Greg Abbott unveiled his education proposals during a stop at a San Antonio charter school, 1200 WOAI’s Stephanie Narvaez reports.

“Through the charter system, through the public education system, we can stimulate a sense of competition that will spur all students to do a better job,” Abbott said.

“Not only did Greg Abbott go up against hundreds of Texas school districts in court, his support of school vouchers would drain even more resources from our neighborhood schools,” Davis said.

Abbott said defending the 2011 cuts in public education which were approved by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor is part of his job as Attorney General, which is something that Davis should understand.

“As a leader, what I will be doing policy wise, is setting our priorities on a different course,” Abbott said. “Nobody before has come out and said what our priorities should be in public education, and I’m doing just that.”

Both sides see education as a key issue in the education debate. Davis is determined to highlight her support of traditional public schools, stressing that she filibustered the $5.4 billion in education cuts in the 2011 budget. Abbott stressed that non traditional alternatives, like charter schools, are the best way to improve education.

But during his stop in San Antonio, Abbott backed away from supporting school vouchers, which would allow tax money to go to private and Christian schools.

“The focus is not going to be on vouchers at all,” he said. “School choice is something that helps achieve competition.”

But the Davis campaign countered that earlier this week, the Abbott campaign hosted an online policy discussion with Merrill Matthews, a policy advisor who has advocated abolishing direct funding of public schools and replacing that funding with vouchers.